


Hook, Line, and Sinker

by patriciaselina



Category: Free!
Genre: Alternate Universe - Coffee Shops & Cafés, Alternate Universe - Future Fish, F/M, No one is what they seem to be, Pseudonyms, Tumblr: freeshippingrelay, mermaid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-02-14
Updated: 2015-02-14
Packaged: 2018-03-10 17:27:42
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3298313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/patriciaselina/pseuds/patriciaselina
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Normally, he wouldn’t be the kind of guy she would give a second glance – okay, that was totally a lie, she would totally give him a second glance.</p><p>(Future Fish AU fic, written for the Winter 14/15 Free! Shipping Relay .)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Hook, Line, and Sinker

**Author's Note:**

> Future Fish AU. There are more notes for this, but I’d like to keep them a secret for now, so I’m putting them at the bottom. An obvious note, though: Haru is the only one who’s using his real name here.

_We are so accustomed to disguise ourselves to others, that in the end, we become disguised to ourselves._  
 _\--Francois de la Roche_

 

* * *

 

Normally, he wouldn’t be the kind of guy she would give a second glance – okay, that was totally a lie, she would _totally_ give him a second glance. Or a third. A tenth, even. It had something to do with the way his muscles were shown off really wonderfully underneath that lovely uniform. But basically, that aside, she wouldn’t have dreamed of getting involved with him, in any sense. But she’s here anyway, sipping a latte from her seat across from him, in the cozy café they seem to be going to more often.

For a couple that’s been dating for a mere two months by now, the silence that blooms between the two as they busy themselves with coffee and donuts isn’t at all uncomfortable, and in fact it sounds even _more_ awkward when one of them speaks up.

“So. Mermaids, then?”

“Yeah, mermaids.” she assents, blowing the steam away from her latte. “That’s what our professor was talking about this morning.” Because Sawako Samekawa is a college student taking up her Japanese Lit major, of course. That’s the only reason why she knows a lot about mermaids. Seriously. “Did you know that they used to be really scary, back then? Not like the Disney Princess version at _all_.”

He cradles his head on his interlocked hands, leaning forward, his eyes crinkling up softly like they always do whenever she’d tell him about something new she’d learned in class today. It’s an endearing facial tic. “Tell me more.”

“Well, they didn’t use to look like pretty humans, for one. They used to just be large fishes with human heads on them. Or they’d have monkey’s faces and pointy teeth.”

“Hm. Does that mean your brother could be descended from mermaids, then?”

“ _Daisuke!_ ” she says, playfully hitting her boyfriend on the arm. “My brother is _not_ a mermaid!” If there’s a hint of desperation mixed into that tone, well, she hopes he doesn’t hear it.

“Joking, joking. Shuichi’s got _really_ sharp teeth, though. I just wanted to know if I should be shocked if one day he’d suddenly sprout fins and swim away.”

“You’re the worst, Daisuke-kun. One of these days I think I should tell _oniichan_ about all the stuff that you, his own partner, has been saying about him, behind his back.”

“Yeah, Sawako-san, maybe you _should_.” Daisuke says, the teal of his eyes glimmering with mischief, and they both laugh. The reason why Shuichi Samekawa should _not_ know that his best friend is dating his little sister is because. Well. It’s his best friend. And his baby sister. All hell would go loose. While they _are_ genuinely scared for Daisuke’s life if he’d find out about it (and for good reason – Shuichi is a tremendously _amazing_ shot), the image of him running after them, steam coming out of his ears, is still major-league hilarious. “Anyway. Let’s stop talking about your brother. He talks about himself enough at work as it is...you were saying?”

“Somewhere along the way, people began talking about how eating the mermaid’s flesh gave them immortality. It’s a common recurring theme.” Sawako says, taking the strawberry off Daisuke’s forgotten shortcake. Daisuke sighs fondly, shakes his head, and pushes the cake her direction instead, perfectly content with his black coffee, as always.

“Thanks. Anyway, one of the oldest stories about mermaids was the one about the guy who served his guests mermaid meat at a dinner party. One of the guys saw that the carcass was a fish with a guy’s face on it, so none of the guests actually ate the meat, they’d just tucked it away, kinda like kids who don’t wanna eat their vegetables.” Her face regains its mischievous smile. “Kinda like _oniichan_ when he was little.”

“As long as it concerns meat your brother is pretty much unstoppable, I’m not surprised.”

“Our mom had _such_ a problem with him. Luckily I picked up his slack for him – I thought that mum’s veggie dishes were really cutely colored – so yeah, she stopped catching on ever since we were around six.”

“I never thought you for a herbivore.”

“I’m not a herbivore, I still eat meat. I just like veggies too. Why’d you say that?”

Daisuke raises an eyebrow. “Probably because of the look on your face when you’d first seen me?”

Ah, that coffee break a long time ago. She’d been forcing a sugar-sweet red velvet donut into her brother’s face – because he’s a police officer and it’s kind of an unwritten rule that he _has_ to like donuts – and his partner Daisuke had shown up with a paper cup of black coffee and a body from the heavens, joking that she’d been looking at him like he was a choice piece of steak. She hadn’t blushed, only smiled at him, which was why she’d slipped him her number when they shook on a goodbye. And also why he’d called back and invited her out to dinner, in return.

This is also why Shuichi made sure to completely _annihilate_ him at the precinct’s paintball gig very shortly after. Just. Because. (He didn’t even _know_ about the dinner.)

“Oh, I remember _that_ , of course,” Sawako says, her hand running up and down the strong muscles of Daisuke’s forearm. In the presence of this, this _perfection_ , it is pretty damned hard to keep her cool. She tries her best, though.

“You know what,” Daisuke says, offhandedly, his eyes looking softly on the way his girlfriend keeps squeezing his bicep, “If any of you guys were a mermaid I’d bet you’d be a better fit for the role.”

Sawako raises an eyebrow. “ _Daisuke Yamamura_. Are you saying that I’d look _good_ as a giant fish-thing?”

“Nah, I’m not talking about that kind. I’m talking about the usual kinda mermaid they have nowadays,” he says, catching her hand in both of his and squeezing it fondly. “You know the type – nice hair, beautiful faces, eyes that pierce straight down to your soul? Yup, _definitely_ sounds like my girl to me.”

“You flatterer,” Sawako says, smirking at him. “This still does _not_ mean that I’m gonna go to your Policeman’s Ball with you, Daisuke-kun.”

“Aw, but why?”

“First off, _oniichan_ would be there, obviously, and I don’t want to spend the rest of the night worrying how to get your bloodstains out of the ballroom’s expensive carpet.” This was not a lie. “Second of all, I don’t even have anything to wear to a _ball_. Why did you guys have a ball anyways?”

“Beats me, I’ve never really went to these kinda things before. Formal events aren’t really my thing,” Daisuke says, before putting the full force of his goddamned magnetic teal eyes on her, her brother must’ve been friggin’ lying when he said that his partner was just about as charismatic as a wooden board, because how _else_ could she explain the universally acknowledged hot tamale in front of her? “But I’m completely fine with struggling through all that boring formalness, if it means I get to dance with my girlfriend the entire time.”

“So...we’re telling _oniichan_ , then?” Sawako says, her one hand going where Daisuke’s holding onto her other hand. “Do you have a friggin’ death wish, Daisuke-kun?”

“Nah, it’s just...d’you blame a guy for wanting to date you _properly_? So yeah, I think we should tel Shuichi. Not that I need his blessing or whatever, mind, but it’s time I own up to it.” He smiles. “Own up to _you_. I’m sorry, Sawako-san, but I can’t stop myself from wanting to tell the world about you.”

Sawako’s cheeks turn a lovely shade of pink, and Daisuke really wants to kiss her right now, but that’s the time when the owner of the café – _Haruka Nanase_ , right, dark hair, blue eyes, never ever speaks – comes up to them with the bill.

And that means only one thing, seeing as every time they’d meet for coffee here, ever since they got together, Nanase would only bring them their bill whenever _Shuichi_ would take his own coffee break. (Daisuke thinks, but he really can’t be sure, that Nanase has a soft spot for Sawako – seeing how familiarly Shuichi addresses Nanase, this really won’t be a surprise. Maybe they’re childhood friends?)

“Oh, so he called for his caramel macchiato, then?” Sawako says, standing up and taking her coat from the back of her chair. “Guess that’s my cue, then.”

“I’ll take care of this, you be careful out there, babe,” Daisuke says, standing up to press a chaste, close-lipped kiss against Sawako’s lips. “See you later?”

“Yeah! Maybe I’ll start looking at dresses online tonight.”

“I think you’ll look absolutely _gorgeous_ in any of them.”

“If you keep saying that, Daisuke-kun, I’m gonna have to kiss you again. Then _oniichan_ would see, and he’d have a heart attack.”

“You better go, then.”

“Yeah, I will. Thanks again, Haru! Your cakes are delicious as always.” She says, and the other man merely nods at her. Like usual – he doesn’t really speak at all.

Shuichi bursts into the café a few minutes later, which is a relief ‘cuz that means that Nanase had already cleaned up the traces of Sawako being with him just a few moments ago. He’s huffing and puffing like he just ran all the way here, and he’s pointing to Nanase, saying, “Haru, I’m taking that macchiato to go, thanks. Daisuke, we gotta go.”

“Did something turn up?”

“Oh, you bet something _definitely_ turned up,” Shuichi says, his grin showing off those horrendously fantasy-monster-like razor-sharp teeth. “Can’t tell you the deets right now, ‘cuz well, _classified_ , but basically: _we know where the Otter is_.”

“No _way_.”

“Well, maybe not _exactly_ where he is, buuuuuut...we know where he’s _going_.” Here Shuichi dangles a pristine white envelope, the same as the one currently languishing in Daisuke’s desk drawer. “So, you going?”

“Oh, _Shuichi_ ,” Daisuke says, his face set in an unreadable grin, “I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

* * *

 

.

 **From** : [restricted number]

 **To** : [restricted number]

_9pm, Iwatobi Hotel Ballroom, black tie optional. I trust you’d find your own way in?_

.

 **From** : [restricted number]

 **To** : [restricted number]

_ummmm, have u gone nuts & forgotten who you’re talking to??? of course i can get in, it’s kinda my specialty?????_

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 **From** : [restricted number]

 **To** : [restricted number]

_Good, then I don’t have anything more to tell you, then. Keep your positions. Also: you and Orca take care of each other._

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 **From** : [restricted number]

 **To** : [restricted number]

_???? y tho? isn’t your 'brother' mako-chan ur plus1 sou-chan?_

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 **From** : [restricted number]

 **To** : [restricted number]

_I know you have full trust in our burn phones, but. Codenames. Please._

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 **From** : [restricted number]

 **To** : [restricted number]

_fiiiiiiiiiineeeeee so u’re not going w/ orca to the ball then? how are u going in???_

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 **From** : [restricted number]

 **To** : [restricted number]

_Let’s just say that the Whale Shark has a date that night._

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 **From** : [restricted number]

 **To** : [restricted number]

_oooooohhhhhh her big bro is gonna kill someone. this could be fun._

.

 **From** : [restricted number]

 **To** : [restricted number]

_Rockhopper, can you not._

**Author's Note:**

> I’ve wanted to write for this AU for the longest time now! On one side we’ve got Nagisa+Makoto+Sousuke, on the other hand we have Rin+Rei+Gou. Haruka’s the actual mermaid whose life they’re bargaining over – Nagisa and the others have been tasked by their bosses to take him into custody, and Rin and the others (who known Haru since forever, but don’t know that he is actually the mermaid) aim to save him from said custody. There’s also a third faction (Sei+Momo+Ai?) that aims to capture Haru for their own purposes, but I didn’t expound on that here.
> 
> Also, I blame this on the fact that on the day I typed this out, a special illustration of my other fandom’s OTP in what seems to be a mafia/spy AU had been released...(Yes, HoriKashi, I am actually blaming you.)
> 
> I hope you like this!


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